


Getting Out

by BotchedExperiment



Category: Now You See Me (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Phobias, Sickfic, germaphobia, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2016-08-31
Packaged: 2018-08-12 06:46:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7924672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BotchedExperiment/pseuds/BotchedExperiment
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It never went well when he told someone about his fear of germs. He'd get made fun of, or worse, someone would use that delicate knowledge against him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting Out

**Author's Note:**

> A big thanks to my friend Sarah for giving me ideas for more than half the fic! Luv u ;D
> 
> It's definitely easier to deal with my stupid phobias when I make my favorite characters suffer from them.

Daniel isn't a fan of germs. The idea of something foreign invading his body makes him shudder and he goes to great lengths to avoid them. When something does succeed in getting him sick, he struggles to keep his cherished sanity.

So when Merritt catches the flu, he does his best to avoid the man. He keeps his bedroom door shut when he's home, and prolongs his trips when he leaves. He doesn’t worry about tarnishing his reputation with the others because they already think he's a dick. It should be no surprise to them that he doesn’t like germs, either.

He cringes every time he hears that cough from the bedroom next to his. One wall separates him from what's infecting his fellow horseman and that alone could stop him from sleeping tonight. The coughing keeps going on and on, piercing his skull and making him think about the number of germs spreading about the room. Disgusting.

Daniel decidedly gets out of bed and pulls on a pair of jeans and a shirt before making a speedy escape, or tries to.

"Where ya going?" Jack questions, looking up from his deck of cards.

"Out."

Henley, who's seated next to Jack watching TV, joins in on the questioning. "Where could you be going at eleven at night?"

"Like I said before," he replies as he slips on a jacket. "Out." Another cough echoes from the hallway followed by a sneeze and he grits his teeth.

Jack doesn’t notice, but Henley - who's known him for a long time - definitely does. It was that moment when his desire to get out of there becomes more urgent and she looks at him with sympathy. He got that look quite a lot in the past when illness was involved. She knows him inside and out, although he doesn’t like to think about it.

"Dude," Jack mumbles. "You're being weird."

Merritt and Jack had accused him of being more snappy and uptight than usual when he spoke to them earlier that day and he wasn’t about to explain why. Not that he needed to. It was none of their business.

It never went well when he told someone about his fear of germs. He'd get made fun of, or worse, someone would use that delicate knowledge against him. Although, his issue with germs and illness is less of a phobia and more of an . . . Uncomfortable-ness. That's what he's always told himself. It makes him tense, always did, and Henley knows that. Jack and Merritt never will if he can help it.

"As always, I suppose."

Henley frowns. "Danny . . ."

He doesn’t give her a chance to say anything else before he walks out the door.

\-----

It's quiet when he returns. The apartment is dark and the only sound is snoring coming from either Jack or Merritt. He exhales in relief as he removes his shoes and jacket.

A sudden voice from the darkness causes him to practically jump out of his skin.

"Welcome back." Merritt pulls a bottle of water out of the fridge before muffling a cough.

"Jesus Christ," Daniel breathes out. "Just talk to people in pitch black darkness. That's a great idea. I hope my heart attack isn't too severe."

"Calm down, Daniel. Jeez." He flips on the dull light that barely manages to light up their pea-sized kitchen-slash-dining-room.

Merritt looks just as awful as he had before, possibly even worse.

Daniel watches him close the fridge with the same hand that he had just coughed in, shuddering. Does this guy have any courtesy for the three other people who lives with him or what?

He swallows his uneasiness and sighs. "I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

"Fine, whatever. 'night." Merritt sounds more dismissive than offended.

Daniel retreats to his bedroom and hopes he can fall asleep as soon as possible before he has to deal with listening to Merritt again. He's finally safe, relaxed. And then Merritt walks in.

The older man flips on a lamp in Daniel's room and seats himself in the desk chair just a couple of feet away from the bed. Daniel watches him in horror as Merritt touches his belongings. He starts to make a mental list of things he'll have to disinfect.

"What - what are you doing?" He asks.

Merritt shrugs with carelessness. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"

"What are you talking about? Get out of my room."

"I just wanna know why you've been more of a dick than usual. Something happen I should know about?"

Daniel doesn’t know why he should care. He does know, however, that the longer Merritt is in his room, the more germs he could be spreading in his room.

"Nothing's changed. Please go."

Merritt runs a hand down his face in frustration. "Look, Daniel, I don’t usually do communicating shit like this so that should tell you that I-"

"Oh my God, get out."

And Merritt, for once in his life, does what Daniel says.

\-----

Daniel sleeps like a rock that night. It was no surprise after how late he had stayed out to avoid everything at home. He wakes up much later than usual. There's voices coming from the kitchen, Jack and Henley's plus Merritt's raspier voice. He stands at the door, waiting for Merritt to leave the joined kitchen and living room. All he needs to do was get something to eat and he'll be good for the rest of the day.

"He's being weirder than normal. What's up with him?" Merritt asks.

"I don't know, man," Jack replies.

Suddenly, that same piercing coughing sound echoes throughout the apartment. He hears Jack ask their fellow horseman if he's alright and Merritt clears his throat.

"'m good."

Daniel rests his forehead against the door and sighs.

He doesn’t really need to eat anyway.

He spends the next few hours engulfed in his work. Practicing tricks, making notes, all with jazz from his mp3 blasting in his ears. He wouldn’t have ever suspected that staying confined to his room would help him get so much work done.

Someone knocks on his door and it's a relief to see that it's only Henley.

"Hey," she smiles.

"I'm kind of busy right now."

"Uh huh, sure. Well we decided on dinner and I figured you'd want to pick up some pizza."

Daniel's more than happy to do anything if it gets him out of the house.

\----

"Yessss, finally. I'm starving." Jack says, sitting down at their dining table while Daniel sets down a stack of paper plates. Food is sounding pretty good to him too after not having eaten. Maybe skipping breakfast and lunch was a bad idea.

The sick man is nowhere in sight. Daniel feels safe enough to sit down and eat with them about a minute before Merritt comes out and sits next to him.

Daniel shoots up and moves to the other side of the table.

"What the fuck?" Merritt yells.

Jack echoes those exact words while Henley stays out of it.

"Just- just stay away from me for one minute," Daniel hisses.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I can't do this," He mumbles under his breath, shaking his head. "I have to go."

He's ready to walk out the door for the hundredth time since Merritt had caught that damn flu, but Henley grabs his arm before he can walk off. She looks him in the eyes, practically demanding him to come clean before someone punched him.

"I can't . . ." He inhales, exhales. "I can't be around sick people, alright? And I'd appreciate it, Henley, if you let go of my arm."

She begrudgingly complies.

Merritt frowns. "Well you coulda just said that." Half of him expected Merritt to taunt him like the kids at school used to do. He's rather surprised that the older man is being civilized.

"No, no I couldn’t have. And it's none of your business."

Merritt sighs, sinking his face in his hands. "I should've seen this a mile away."

"Well, I'm sorry that your illness impairs your oh-so-special ability," Daniel says with sarcasm.

He doesn’t know why he told them anything. It isn't like they could do anything about it.

"Hey, Daniel." There's an uncharacteristic softness in Merritt's voice, "I'm gonna stay out of your way, alright?" Daniel knows that he shouldn’t have to ask that f someone, but the offer sounds sincere. "I'll be careful and shit."

Just like that, he takes his plate and heads to his room, leaving a heavy silence. Daniel thinks he should feel guilty. He kind of does, actually.

"Like I said before," Daniel says, breaking the silence. "I need to go. Enjoy your dinner, I suppose." And he walks out once again to gather his thoughts. His walk isn't as long as the one the night before. Daniel can't get himself to get more than a couple blocks away before he turns back.

He's about to do something he never thought he would.

The living room is again occupied by Henley and Jack with Merritt absent. Daniel takes a big personal risk and knocks on his  friend's door.

"Yeah?"

He thinks about turning around, but then Merritt would just come looking for the knocker. No - he needs to do this. When he opens the door Merritt is sitting on his bed reading, surrounded by tissues and medicine and /mess/ that makes Daniel want to run for the hills. Running is what got him where he is now, though. If there's one thing Daniel Atlas isn't, It's a coward.

Merritt's eyes widen.

". . . Yes?" He questions, waiting for Daniel to get on with it.

"I'm sorry."

Merritt looks like he's about to have a heart attack.

"I could have," he clears his throat. "Been a bit more honest instead of being rude."

Merritt smiles and nods. "It's all good, Daniel. I wasn’t lying about staying out of your way until I'm well again. Hell, we can take turns being in the kitchen and stuff if you want."

"I . . . Appreciate that."

"Good." Merritt looks him over. "You can go now."

Daniel releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding. "Oh, thank God." he starts to walk away and then turns back around. "Oh also, you should clean up a little. I don’t know how you can live in a room that looks like this."

Merritt laughs. "Go away, you dick."

"Right. See you after you're healthy, I guess."

And that was one of the few times J. Daniel Atlas apologized to his fellow horsemen.

 


End file.
